The network and its Universal Television studio has signed a deal with Abbey creator Julian Fellowes to create The Gilded Age, a "sweeping epic in the style of Downton Abbey" that chronicles millionaire titans in 1880s New York City.

"This was a vivid time with dizzying, brilliant ascents and calamitous falls, of record-breaking ostentation and savage rivalry; a time when money was king," the producer said in a statement.

Fellowes would write and produce the series if it goes forward, while continuing to work on the Emmy-winning British series, which begins its third season on PBS in January and has already been renewed for a fourth.